1571 Martial Coast City

Alex heard a knock on his door while he cultivated. He had been cultivating for the past 3 days without any disturbance and hadn't expected to get any for the next 2 days.

He opened the door and let the person walk in.

The one who entered was Queen Mao.

She wore a flawless white robe with silver and gold embroidery creating complex patterns on it. Her hair was tied in a bun, a silver hairpin holding it together along with a plethora of other jewelry all over her body.

Her face had a hint of pink and her lips a darker shade of it, all of which accentuated her already incredible beauty even more.

She looked particularly beautiful today, but there was a different aura about her this time around. Instead of being the playful beauty she was before, now she was a cold beauty. 

"Your Majesty, I will need to leave for Martial island very soon. What have you planned? Will you leave with me or will you come later after the secret realm has opened up?"

She had the same attitude as the last two times he had met her, once during the alchemy competition between his alchemists and he Eastern Continent, and once in the golden auction.

"Is something urgent?" he asked.

"No, it's not urgent. I just have to be there to look over the logistics side of things and approve of things. It's a once in a 30-year event, so I can't leave things to other people."

"We are also looking at an unusual number of strong individuals participating this time around, so we have to be more careful," the Queen said.

"More powerful people?" Alex asked. "Players?" 

The queen shrugged. "Last time the secret realm opened up, they were still quite weak comparatively, but this time around, everyone has become strong enough to compare with the scions of big families and sects," she said.

"Hmm, I never thought how strong a player could have gotten," he said. "That will be quite interesting to see." 

"So?" the queen asked. "Will you be leaving?"

"Sure," Alex said. "I'll go. There's no reason for me to stay here anyway."

The queen nodded. "We'll leave in 5 hours. I still have a few things to do here since I'll have to stay on the Martial island for the next 2 years."

Alex nodded.

5 hours later, he stood in a teleportation formation with the Queen, her brother, and a few other legionnaires.

They arrived at a city in the west known as the Martial Coast city. It was one of the cities closest to Martial island.

"I'll be away for a few hours, Your Majesty," the Queen said as soon as they were teleported. Yingkong, take care of His Majesty."

"Don't worry, sister," the young man next to Alex said with a bow. 

The Queen left them, with a majority of the legionaries leaving with her. Only a few remained behind to escort Alex.

"Do you wish to go somewhere, Your Majesty? Or should we head directly to the place that has been prepared for you?" the young man asked.

"Hmm, I would love to tour this city. I just came out of a 3-day long intense cultivation session, so I want to walk around," he said. "Are there any interesting places here?"

"In the Martial Coast island, the only interesting places would be Martial houses," the young man said. "Dueling arenas. They call it a Martial house here."

"Are they fun?" Alex asked.

"I cannot guarantee that it will be fun, but if you do not like it, we can leave anytime," the young man said.

"That's not a bad idea then," Alex said. "Let us head on over to one."

The young man nodded and together they started walking. Their bodyguards remained far behind them, hidden from the two of them, so no one gave much thought to the two of them once they left the teleportation house.

The newsboard didn't even show that Alex had arrived in the city, which meant that they had no idea at all. Barely a few people even looked in his direction and even then nobody could say with a guarantee that it was him.

So, Alex found this little walk quite free and calming. 

"Oh right, I meant to ask. Is something wrong? Your sister didn't seem her cheerful self," Alex said.

"No, no, she's alright. That's just her. She's cheerful one minute and serious the other. She is unpredictable like that," the young man said.

"Oh, so nothing is wrong?" Alex asked.

"No, everything is alright," the young man said. "You will get used to it if you spend some more time with my sister."

"I see, that is good to hear," Alex said before wondering if the Queen's brother was implying something at the end there. He chose to ignore it even if he was.

"How would you rank yourself in terms of strength, by the way?" Alex asked. "In the upcoming secret realm opening."

The young man had a Saint Soul 7th realm cultivation base, making him quite strong. But Alex wasn't sure where he ranked him.

"I will be stronger than a vast majority for sure," he said. "But… I don't believe I will even be one of the 100 strongest in there."

That surprised Alex a little bit.

"Even before the Saint Transformation realm cultivators, which there will be quite a few of, there will be many in the same cultivation base as me, and the remaining two Saint Soul realms."

"Players especially are hard to predict as some have weird techniques that let them bring out attacks far stronger than others in their same cultivation base," the young man said. "With so many players taking part, it will be hard to determine just how many there are that are stronger than me."

Alex looked at him. "How many months do you think you will remain in there?" he asked.

"Hopefully all of it," the young man said with a bit of a chuckle. "But realistically, I will be happy if I can remain longer than a year without having to resort to cheap tricks."

"I see," he said. "You have entered there before right?"

"Past 3 times in a row," the young man said. "I managed to last just 8 months the first time around, 11 the second time around, and 13 months the third time around."

"And 30 years later, you believe it will be good if you survive for just 12 months?" Alex asked.

"The strong players force me to evaluate my potential as such," the young man said with a shrug. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. You'll last for 8 to 10 months certainly. Your cultivation base should let you remain that long easily."

Alex smiled. He didn't tell the young man just what he had been planning, or else the young man would've most likely had a worse reaction than his sister.

Alex looked around at the coastal city, enjoying the warm breeze as they arrived at one of the Martial Houses some time later.

The Queen's brother helped him enter the place discreetly so nobody learned that he was there. After that, he was ready to enjoy whatever this place had to offer.